にほ鳥の潜く池水心あらば
君に我が恋ふる心示さね
君に我が恋ふる心示さね
- Roma-ji
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Nio dori no kazuku ikemizu kokoro araba kimi ni aga kouru kokoro shimesane
- English Translation
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Where the grebes dive down,
O you water of the pond,
if you have a heart,
show to him, my lord, I pray,
how my heart is longing so
- Meaning
- O water of the pond where the grebes dive, if you have a heart, show my lord how I long for him.
- Commentary
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Book Four Love Poems 725
Headnote: "Two poems presented to the emperor; Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue composed them while in the village of Kasuga"
This is the first of two poems Lady Sakanoue presented to Emperor Shōmu from the village of Kasuga. Calling on the water of a pond where grebes dive, she asks it, if it has a heart, to convey to the emperor her devotion. A subject's reverence for the sovereign is cast in the form of a love poem, a courtly piece.
The author, Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue, was a daughter of Ōtomo no Yasumaro and half-sister of Ōtomo no Tabito. She left many poems in the Man'yōshū and is esteemed as a leading woman poet.
First line, "Where the grebes dive down," names niodori, the little grebe.
Second line, "O you water of the pond," names the pond water where they dive, the one she addresses.
Third line, "if you have a heart," means if you have feelings.
Fourth line, "show to him, my lord, I pray," runs to eight syllables: my longing for my lord.
Fifth line, "how my heart is longing so," uses ne, a wish: please show my heart.
- Author
- Lady Ōtomo no Sakanoue
- Source
- Manyoshu
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Asakami no omoimidarete kaku bakari nane ga koure zo ime ni miekeru
- Next Poem
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Yoso ni ite koitsutsu arazu wa kimi ga ie no ike ni sumu to iu kamo ni aramashi o